BetAmerica’s horse racing pick of the day: July 15, Canterbury Park

Weekday picks and plays for Thoroughbred racing.

Wednesday, July 15

Canterbury Park, Race 5: Mystic Lake Derby (1 mile on turf, 7:40 p.m. ET)

The $100,000 Mystic Lake Derby looks like a two-horse battle, between the stakes-placed #3 Summer Assault (5-2 on the morning line) and the improving #4 Angelus Warrior (9-5), and of the pair, my preference is for the latter.

Trained by Mike Maker, who has saddled the last two winners of the Mystic Lake Derby, Angelus Warrior has cracked the exacta in five of his six starts, against quality competition.

Two starts back, he finished second in a 1 1/8-mile grass allowance at Churchill Downs, behind Spanish Kingdom, who returned to finish a length away from victory in Keeneland’s Transylvania (G3).

Most recently, Angelus Warrior cut back to a mile and rallied to win another allowance event at Churchill, The future top-two finishers in the Iowa Derby, Acre and Letmeno, were among his beaten rivals.

This victory produced a career-best 87 Brisnet Speed rating, and even though Angelus Warrior is technically stepping up in class, you can argue the Mystic Lake Derby is actually an easier spot than those competitive Churchill Downs allowance races.

Let’s bet Angelus Warrior on top of Summer Assault in a straight exacta.

$25 exacta: 4 with 3

Good luck!